Chapter 94.2

Chapter 94.2

Hyunjung tugged at her.

“Unni, let’s sit down somewhere. You’re so pale.”

“…No, I’m fine.”

Miran forced a smile, pulling her arm free from Hyunjung’s grasp. She swallowed hard and pushed out a voice that sounded almost cheerful.

“I know her. She’s André’s classmate. We ran into each other at Limelight on your birthday and said hello. Maybe there’s some kind of reunion here…”

Even to her own ears, it was a flimsy excuse.

Sympathy flickered in Hyunjung’s eyes, though she quickly masked it with an exaggerated nod.

“Ah, that must be it. Should we check out another floor?”

Heat crawled up Miran’s cheeks, but she nodded. Only hours earlier she had spoken so boldly about Hyunjung’s cheating boyfriend, and now she felt nothing but shame.

“Yeah. Let’s do that.”

They wandered half-heartedly through the exhibition before leaving MoMA before four. Miran smiled as if nothing were wrong, said goodbye to Hyunjung, and trudged off toward Columbus Circle. She almost wished it would rain. Instead, the sky was painfully clear and bright.

Back home, Miran went through the motions: shower, fresh clothes, then straight to her desk for homework.

“…They looked good together.”

Her shoulders jerked at the sound of her own voice. The thought had slipped out unbidden. Looking down at her notebook, she saw not vocabulary but meaningless doodles filling the page. With a sigh, she closed it.

They said people do best when they’re with their own kind.

The two who had walked in arm in arm looked as though they’d been cast from the same mold. The same aura of dignity, the same untouchable air. Even their cold features mirrored one another. To anyone watching, she clearly belonged to André’s world.

When I was with André, people whispered I was some bar girl, an escort, or a sugar baby.

Miran squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.

But André said he didn’t like her either.

He never spoke empty words, never lied, never made promises he couldn’t keep. She wanted to believe him.

They might have just been invited to the same event. Maybe they only ran into each other by chance…

She piled up excuses for him in her head when the doorbell rang. Her heart dropped. Normally she would have run to the door with her hair flying, but tonight her legs felt unbearably heavy.

What face am I supposed to show him?

As she walked down the hall, she repeated the facial stretches she did for voice practice, forcing her lips upward. Then she opened the door with a bright smile.

—

Dinner was always food prepared by Chef Noel that the maid left in the fridge each morning. They only needed to heat it up.

Tonight’s menu was fish grilled with butter and lemon. Miran prodded it with her fork and asked carefully,

“What did you do this afternoon?”

“Work.”

André’s answer was flat. Miran sighed inwardly.

“Were you at the office all day?”

“I stepped out to meet someone.”

She let out a breath of relief. Thank God he hadn’t lied. If he had said he’d been at the office the whole time, it would have felt like the sky had collapsed.

“Oh. Was it for work, or… personal?”

The question wasn’t like her. André gave a short laugh, almost mocking.

“The only personal thing in my life is you.”

Which meant that “Grace Kelly” was work. Miran’s heart jolted like she’d been shocked, warmth flooding her cold body. Suspecting André had been torture, but those words brought her both comfort and a rush of trembling.

“I… I see. So I’m the only one…”

Heat spread to her chilled fingertips. Foolish as it was, she loved him too much not to cling to the smallest scrap of hope.

André narrowed his eyes, raising a brow at her.

“Why aren’t you eating? Don’t like it? Want something else?”

If she said yes, he looked ready to summon Chef Noel on the spot. Realizing she was hungry after all, Miran laughed softly and shook her head, finally taking a bite of the fish she’d been pushing around.

“No. It’s delicious.”

They ate in silence for a while before Miran, pretending it was casual, asked the question she truly wanted answered.

“André? Do you ever work with friends or classmates… people you know?”